How Can I Help

"How can I help," I aspire to say these four words as often as I can, I want to be characterized as being a servant. Growing up within the Church I have volunteered for many things, some by choice and others by being "voluntold." Because of this I have a passion to be a servant. Why would I want to be a servant, it makes no sense right? I feel it makes perfect sense when I look to who Jesus was and is today. In his incarnate life, Jesus did one main thing, he served people, his whole ministry was built around it and in his being today he is still serving us as the perfect high priest. He has sent the Holy Spirit whose job is to serve us and help us grow into the people God has created, who we would be if there was no sin within us. I also know that for my acts of service I have a reward in heaven which the concept is above my mental grasp.

This last weekend I was in my great friends Brian and Trinity Neilson's wedding. I drove 14 hours there and back, served them for a weekend and, as with all wedding, it was an expensive trip. I will be completely honest in that, before the trip, I was kinda dreading it a bit, I knew it was going to be expensive and it's very hard to skip classes and lose a whole weekend of time this close to the end of the year, not to mention I missed Evening. I had, as some would say, a bad attitude and I knew it. Thankfully as the trip began, God opened my eyes to the joy that this wedding was and I had a great time and regret nothing and wish for nothing different.

After the wedding God gave me a realization: the reward of service, besides the temporarily-intangible one in heaven, is one of the most valuable rewards ever, the reward is a growth in relationship. In serving my friends I grew even more in my relationship with them, at the very least in my own heart. I noticed this and looked back to other times I have served and they have almost always led to a growth in relationship. This got me thinking, what characterizes service? Is it not just a compilation of the fruits of the Spirit? Loving, having joy, having peace, being patient, being kind, doing good things, having faith in others, having a gentle attitude, and having the control over yourself to make it not about yourself. These are the things that make up service and love should be the greatest piece. The fruit of the spirit, through me expressed mainly in being a servant, result in a growth in a relationship.

I heard a story once of a married couple who had all but given up on their relationship and in a last ditch effort went to see her pastor. She expressed her pain and told the pastor how she wished for their to be some way other than divorce. The pastor told her to take one month and commit herself to serving her husband in every way she could, and then see how the relationship went. The wife went back and served her husband for in every way she could. After a month she came back to the pastor overjoyed, his proposal had fixed their marriage. I am not sure if the story itself is true but I know that the principle behind it is.

So the question is who do you want to grow in relationship with? Sadly I don't have enough time to serve every single person I meet, though I strive to, but for the sake of not wearing myself out physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially I need to be deliberate on who I serve. As an RA I serve the guys on my floor. I serve my friends, I hope to one day serve my wife, but most importantly I need to serve Jesus. I need to ask Him what he wants me to do to help. Don't misunderstand, Jesus does not need my help, but he lets me help so that it is a two-way relationship (not just me being served) and so that there is growth in our relationship. I challenge you, and myself, who is it that you wish to have a better relationship with? Who is your enemy right now? Serve them and look to see the growth in relationship, it's not an instant reward it takes time but it is worth it and we all need to be reminded of that from time to time.

Burnout

It is the middle of the semester, and I am wearied. As I was mixing the sound tonight for Pursuit, Northwest University's Monday night chapel service run by students, when I pondered the fact that I am burnt out on church services. I have noticed this for a good while now. I go to five church services a week and most of them I sit through twice. Why do I do it? Because I love it, but quite honestly I'm burnt out. The reason is, most likely by my own fault, I have not been connecting with the Holy Spirit within these church services. This is most likely due to the fact that during almost every church service I'm in I am helping out with running the sound board or working in some fashion. I am focused on doing a good job, one that pleases the Lord and not on getting my own refreshment from the service. I realize that most Christians today have only church services to spend time with God and be replenished by the Holy Spirit and so if, or more likely, when they get burnt out on church services they become distressed. But I have know myself and in knowing myself I know what spiritually refreshes me: personal time spent with my God and discussions about God, life, and the struggles we go through with my fellow believers.

When it comes to spending personal time with God there comes a problem: I'm lazy. I often don't spend daily time with God despite knowing the need I have for my own well-being to do so. I often and easily fall prey to the lie that I am too busy to spend time devoted to God. I tend to spend my time on meaningless things, like writing a blog, instead of spending time with my God. This is problem number one.

The second way I am spiritually refreshed is when I pour my heart out to others, or when they pour their heart out to me. When we as believers come together to share our struggles and to listen to the advice of friends, there is something wholesome in that. The problem is, we often don't have these types of encounters every day. We also shouldn't go looking to have these heart-to-heart conversations every day with every person, that would just be weird.

So what's the solution to burnout? I don't know, but knowing what gets you refreshed and taking time to practice these things definitely helps. If chapel three times a week, or church once a week is enough to get you refreshed, then embrace those times, cherish them but if you are burnt out on church, school, or anything; I encourage you to think of what refreshes you and develop discipline to do those things. I know for me that when I take time to be with God personally and/or when I have a heart-to-heart with a good friend that I am refreshed, and when I am refreshed I can enjoy those church services that were previously a drag.

I hope that my random thoughts weren't too in-cohesive for you and I hope that God can use them to help you avoid burnout.